Potassium and Being Sick Archives

1.Case Presentation
A 68-year-old man presented to clinic with a 1-day history of constant, right lower quadrant pain. He denied fevers, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, melena, hematochezia, malaise, anorexia, cough, chest pain, headache, dysuria, and hematuria. His history was remarkable for bilateral inguinal hernia repairs 20 and 40 years ago, respectively, an episode of bacterial pneumonitis 3 months prior, and recent ultrasonic documentation of left atrial enlargement to 5.2 cm.
On physical examination, the patient was alert and oriented, appearing anicteric. He was afebrile, with an elevated systolic blood pressure of 188 mm Hg. His chest was clear to auscultation, and his heart rate was regular, with normal rhythm. His abdomen was soft to palpation and tender in the right lower quadrant, with voluntary guarding and questionable rebound. The abdomen was dull to percussion, except for the right lower quadrant where it was slightly tympanitic. No organomegaly or hernias were appreciated. Rectal examination was negative for occult blood.
Laboratory investigations disclosed the following: white cell count, 15,300 (neutrophils, 90%; basophils, 0%); hematocrit, 39.5%; platelets, 384,000 cells/mm3; serum sodium, 142 mmol/L; potassium, 4.1 mmol/L; chloride, 99 mmol/L; bicarbonate, 30 mEq/L; blood urea nitrogen, 13 mg/dL; creatinine, 0.9 mg/dL; glucose, 207 mg/dL; alkaline phosphatase, 80 U/L; prothrombin time, 13.3 seconds; and partial thromboplastin time, 25 seconds. Results of liver function tests and serum bilirubin were within normal limits.
Chest radiograph revealed a residual right upper lobe infiltrative, improved from the radiographic appearance at discharge 3 months previously. An abdominal radiograph showed a distended loop of bowel in the right lower quadrant, with the suggestion of pneumatosis.
Which of the following diagnoses should be considered based on the given clinical scenario?
A. Appendicitis
B. Colon carcinoma
C. Diverticulitis

Dehydration?

o Why is water essential to health maintenance?
o What are the functions of water in the body?
o What happens to the body when it does not get the water it needs?
o Compare and contrast how different electrolytes—sodium, potassium, and chloride—
function in the body.
o What effects can alcohol and caffeine have on hydration levels in the body?
o What steps can people take to ensure they do not become dehydrated?

Cramping at 35 weeks….!?

I’ve been cramping for the last 3 days. 1st day didn’t bother me, 2nd day was noticeable and 3rd day (today) it’s really bothering me. Nurse told me once I was cramping because I was dehydrated. I have severe sickness. I do drink a lot of water. My potassium is also low from all the vomiting. Could my cramps be associated with dehydration or could it be related to labor??

I will be 36 weeks pregnant on Tuesday. I have had SEVERE sickness since I was 8 weeks. Doctor put me on Phenergan after about 4 months pregnant. When I hit my 3rd trimester sickness only got worse so now the doctor has me on Zofran. I’ve been the hospital twice allready because of the vomiting. 1st time I was not dehydrated, although my potassium was low due to the vomiting. Doctor gave me my 1st Zofran prescription. Medicaid will only pay for 8 pills a month!! So I was only taking one pill a day. Worked great I felt better and was actually eating. One night I got really sick and ended up in the hospital again. This time I was very dehydrated. Doctor gave me a new prescription and told me to get the prescriptions as much as I need them because of the Medicaid situation and the refills. Medicaid will pay for new prescriptions. So I got my pills and even though I never stopped throwing up completely because of heartburn, it was better. Now I ran out of pills again. Called the doctor’s office to get a prescription 2 days ago but the nurse never returned my call. Thing is that I spoke to them again today but I have to wait and see if the doctor makes it back to the office today so he can approve it. I’ve been taking my Phenergan meanwhile but they stopped working a long time ago. I’ve been throwing up a lot as you can imagine and don’t even know what to eat anymore. I don’t want to end up in the hospital again until Monday that the doctor comes in for sure. I just wish they would keep me in the hospital with an i.v. and medication none stop so that I never throw up again or that the doctor takes the baby out allready. It has messed up my throat so much that sometimes blood comes out too and it’s VERY painfull. I drink lots of water and try to eat crakers, bread, fruits, etc but there is NO controling it. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like it’s something serious, even though it is pregnancy related. But when you are this sick you just feel like you’re dying! I cry because I can’t handle it anymore and I don’t know what to do. Please help me. I can’t take it any longer! I feel like no one understands how horrible I feel and I’m desperate, miserable and feel like I’m slowly drying even though I know I’m not.
Sorry I wrote so much.
By me saying I would like the doctor to take her out allready doesn’t mean I will do something on my behalf to make it happend. 1st of, 2nd educate yourself because at this stage baby is strong enough to survive. You’re not in my shoes and you do not know what this feels like. Nobody understand because nobody feels like I do. I would never do anything to hurt my baby and I do want to keep her in as long as I have too. I just wish I didn’t have too because I’m too weak allready!
I am asking for advice on what can I do to feel better. If I wanted the baby out allready I wouldn’t be here asking you people, I would be in the hospital trying to get her out!!! I don’t mind my own child inside my body, the pains, the stretching, doesn’t bother me. What I am having a hard time dealing with has been the severe vomiting!!!! Gosh you people just make me upset!!

low potassium and dehydration?

What are the diseases, after it outbreak, the patient will be dehydrated and low in potassium?
I need as much as you can think of

Someone I know said it happened to him. I think it’s probably related to a nutritional deficiency perhaps low potassium or sodium levels, or perhaps B vitamins or essential amino acids, perhaps dehydration. Or perhaps a stoke (left arm)?

CH 15:1
Question 1
Which of the following environments is thought to have promoted the dehydration synthesis of polypeptides and other macromolecules from smaller organic monomers on a prebiotic Earth?
a.quiet saltwater bodies
b. hot sand, clay, or rock along seashore
c. sediments at the bottom of the worlds oceans

Question 2
The earliest discovered fossils are of ________ dating back to ________ years ago.
a. prokaryotes…3.5 billion
b. algae…1billion
c.fish…600 million
d.dinosaurs…180 million

Question 3
A(n) ________ has been used to estimate that HIV-1 M first spread to humans in the 1930s.
a.epidemiological study
b.parsimony analysis
c.molecular clock —-this is the right answer

Question 4
How can the success of one group of organisms promote the adaptive radiation of a second group?
a. by competing with the second group, promoting its adaptive radiation
b. by preying on the second group, which hastens its adaptation
c. by filling most of the available niches, which forces the second group to evolve greater diversity
d. by providing new food resources, habitats, etc. for the second group

Question 5
One of the strongest lines of evidence of a meteor or comet impact in the late Cretaceous is
a. the increase in the diversity of mammals.
b.a thin layer of iridium-enriched clay in late Cretaceous fossil strata.
c.the warming of Earth’s climate in the late Cretaceous.
d.a thin layer of potassium-40 in late Cretaceous fossil strata.

Question 6
Mass extinctions:
a. mainly serve to "weed out" poorly adapted organisms and make room for new, more advanced species.
b. remove many species, but they are replaced within a million years or less by an even greater diversity of life.
c. remove well-adapted species and groups from the Earth, so that it may take tens of millions of years for species diversity to recover.
d. permanently and irreversibly reduce the total number of species on Earth.

PLease help Im studying for a test
I cant find these answers anywhere. –PLease dont guess. Thank you

Has absolutely uncontrollable pure water diarrhea, like when a baby of a few months does, what do I do. Its like when she was a few months old and what came out was just water. This lasted from about 9a to 9p yesterday but that has stopped. Its was literally like urine coming from her rear. And also spelled as nasty as when she was a baby. Rank, doesn’t cover it. She’s had some vomiting so its really eating which is scaring me.Today the runs or gone and mostly the tummy upset. On top of this she has a wicked head cold the whole family has been fighting. She’s 11 and this hasn’t happened in years. If I ask in the older kids section I;m sure I won’t get as much help as from you mommies dealing with this. Please help me! She did eat a bit tonight and had some water, plus a juice bar. That stayed down. i am just worked about her potassium being low and putting her heart in danger. Maybe that doesn’t happen at 11. The doctor couldn’t see her till tomorrow and my begging didn’t help. We are going even though she’s better. any ideas Mom’s. I am terrified. Thank you all. if you think I should post this else where I will.
Ofcourse I’m not a troll, I’m on here every day. Yhe child is my grand daughter and as I said we have all been in bed (4 of use deathly ill. I just woke her mom and told her I was heading to the ER. I raised 5 kids and have 7 grand kids your guys, I tried to do every thhing you said about your babies and since the runs stopped I hope the worse was over. I’m sorry i;m sort of practice but I would give my life for this very special child of my heart if not my lions. I hope none of you are ever accused of neglected the thing you love most in the world. Its cut my heart out. sorry i bother those who don’t realize you can’t always do things the mother feels are her choice. Thanks for those who helped.
As I said the runs stopped last nite as di d the real vomiting. She has had a Pedilye pop or too, 1 banana, At least a liter of gatoraid, and rice which she eats daily. She even had that last night but I forgot. She tried a slice of toast but isnt a breadeater any way so that was wasted. So do you think since she’s sleeping and the doc will see her at 8am i should let her sleep? I had basically the same yesterday and couldn’t drive with out wrecking I’m sure. my husband, her GP is a brain tumor patient and confinded to bed is another eason I didn’t go themn as I couldn’t find a sitter for him. I am asking a serious question here Mom’s you guys know best. Please tell me what ou think even if its that I am wrong.

im just sitting here eating a bowl of watermelon and due to my curiosity i decided to look online about it and found this little juicy information :]

If you’re pregnant, the benefits are even more delicious. Watermelon eases heartburn and reduces swelling; its high water content (92 percent) and fruit sugars alleviate morning sickness and dehydration; and the minerals it contains can help prevent third-trimester muscle cramps. Ounce for ounce, watermelon is richer than tomatoes in lycopene, an antioxidant that protects against cancer and cardiovascular disease, boosts the body’s immunity to infections and naturally raises the skin’s

Even better news for pregnant women: A 2003 study in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics found that daily lycopene supplements reduced the incidence of preeclampsia by 50 percent. Test subjects were given 4 milligrams of lycopene; a single serving of watermelon can have triple that amount. What’s more, scientists have discovered that watermelon is packed with vitamins A, C and B6, as well as potassium and magnesium. These nutrients are important for the development of your baby’s vision, brain, nervous and immune systems, and more. For you, potassium regulates water balance in the blood and body tissues during pregnancy. And you get all these benefits for less than 50 calories per cup.

With its plentiful health perks and juicy, refreshing taste, watermelon is one of summer’s most perfect nutritional packages. Try it in these sweet and savory recipes.

An Easy Way To Ease Nausea
Some pregnant women swear that watermelon is all they can keep down when morning sickness kicks in.
i decided to share this because it could help alot of people with muscle cramping etc through pregnancy

Pregnancy on Birth Control and Antibiotics?

I am sexually active.
I do not use a condom with my partner.
I am on Microgestin Fe 1/20
I had been taking Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium tablets since April 9th for 10 to 11 days.

Approximately April 17th - pinkish/red spotting for no more than a day.

April 21st to 22nd - faint light brownish spotting.
(On the 1st day of when a period should occur..Though I do tend to get them at the end of the placebo week for about 2 days and its usually red.)

I’ve been also experiencing what I believe to be pregnancy symptoms:

*Nausea
*Inability to sleep at night but exhausted during the day.
*Occasional random vomiting
*Emotional - crying a lot for idk why and feeling discouraged by my boyfriend.
*Breasts are sore
*Sensitive to smell and taste
*Really strange life like dreams
*Metal taste in my mouth - like I’m sucking on a coin.
*Headaches
*Very hot and sweaty - Especially while sleeping - I’m usually never sweaty.
*Chills randomly or rite after sweats
*Constipation with gas

I’ve taken at home pregnancy tests. Negative. Once it was inconclusive and more recently 2 have had horizontal lines from the chemicals traveling down the stick - never seen that before and idk if its normal.

My questions are:
1) What could the bleeding be; And have you or anyone you know experienced it?
2) Is there anything else besides pregnancy that may be causing these symptoms?
3) Is it possible to be pregnant and get a negative read on the test?

*I currently have a stubborn ear infection (hence the antibiotics).
Response to «????»,

I have been on birth control since I was 16. I’m 22 now. I just switched from Depo Provera to the pill about 9 months ago.

I haven’t been bleeding for 3 days straight.
On April 17th I had pinkish red bleeding that didn’t last longer than that day.

Yesterday I began spotting dark blood. This is the week that I would begin my period.

The past 2 or 3 months I haven’t gotten a period due to the BC. (Forgot to include that before.)

If I do get a period it is usually for one day at the end of the Placebo week.

The tests I’m taking expire next year.

I don’t know if the bleeding I had today was a period or not…

Which brings me to another question:
4) Is it possible to spot or have a period while pregnant?
* Never had any negative side effects from Depo Provera (besides having to take extra calcium).

* I have been to the Dr with multiple tests done when it comes to my hormones because of the Depo and everything is in "normal range".

*Technically I’m not due for my period until the weekend. - If it does come that’s usually when it does.

*I know what PMS feels like, but this time here are different factors.

*I forgot to mention my boyfriend didn’t ejaculate inside of me - to the best of out knowledge - but after we were done having sex a semen like substance, (It even smelt and taste like semen) was left behind. My secretions during that time were clear and very slippery and stretchy.

Thanks to everyone for your answers. Looks like the best thing for me to do is retest in a week or so and get a blood test done either way.

If you can still add to this question, please do so. Are there any conditions that may give off the same symptom as pregnancy?

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